And outside there were protests.....

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We knew before we came that there were going to be people protesting against the WCC outside the Assembly. These protests started even before the day began with quite a large scale gathering which was heavily policed and even resulted in a hoax bomb call that brought in the local SWAT team. The protests have continued right throught the Assembly with one man sitting outside the halls with a large placard in English indicating that he has been fasting and praying against the heresy of the WCC for the whole period of the gathering. On day 12 he was looking decidedly thin and drawn.

I took one of their leaflets on the first day and found it contained a mix of political opposition and conservative theology that used the langauge of serving satan, communism, heresy and the need for repentance. A car has been circling the assembly halls for several days with loudspeakers through which the driver has endlessly announced that 'Jesus is coming now, repent!'.

It's easy to dismiss them as the lunatic fringe or 'fundies' but when one learns more about the historical context following the end of the Second World War, the arguments between sections of the church over the response to the Japanese occupation and the history and feelings in relation to the communist north you begin to realise that it is impossible to jump to simplistic conclusions. Some of the arguments from the protestors are subtle and clearly deeply felt and can only eventually be responded to by careful discussion and most of all by creating friendship and developing a culture of listening to one another.

I was pleased to see that many Assembly participants took time to talk to the protesters and even stand with them to have their pictures taken. We will all leave but the Koreans who hosted us will remain and we can only hope and pray that the legacy will be the opportunity for better communication and eventual reconciliation.

As a postscript, the closing service or 'sending prayer' was disrupted by a protester who got onto the platform and was bundled off by security guards and aarrested by the police. It was hoped to be able to speak to the man but he had already been arrested. As we left the Bexco conference centre, there was a noticeably large police presence outside and the protesters were around in force having their final say.

 

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